Lila
by OncePeetaHermione
Summary: When Mary Margaret and David get sucked down yet another portal, they leave something precious behind. Emma, with Neal and Henry's help, must face her fears to take care of it.
1. Another portal

**Ok… So when I found out about Josh and Ginny (the actors of Prince Charming and Snow White) being engaged this idea just popped into my head. I'll explain – (and please take all this in a non-creepy way… I just have a tendency to overthink when I'm excited) so I was all happy about them getting married… having little tiny cute babies (that we all know Ginny wants desperately) and I thought… hmm… what is a way that they could write her pregnancy into the series… and then still give her some time off for maternity leave?... and somehow this came about…**

**So – some background… this is set loosely in 2 years' time… I've made Henry 14… just because that's about right… This chapter takes place in Mary Margaret's apartment/loft which Emma, Henry and Neal now live in. and yep - I've decided to name the baby Lila because I wanted a name that ended in A (like Emma) and upon my quick research session figured out that lots of princess names end in A so yeah… that's my reason… (and by lots I mean I can think of 3 so… wow… yeah that's tons of names…) anyhoo… story below **

**Disclaimer – I do not own any characters (apart from the baby), or the setting (storybrooke) – only the ridiculous plot…. So yeah…. Enjoy :)**

* * *

**LILA**

"Thank-you so much for babysitting Emma, Snow and I really appreciate you giving us some time alone." David whispered sincerely, so to not wake the sleeping baby in his arms.

Smiling tightly at the little bundle of pink, Emma nodded her head. "I guess it will give us some time for a little bit of sister bonding… even though I'm sure she'll only sleep, poop and cry whilst you're gone."

David cracked a big grin. "Yeah have fun with all that, I'm sure you can manage for 2 hours though."

"Yeah yeah… I'll be fine… pass her over." She replied sarcastically. Holding the tiny baby in her arms was surreal. It was an action that filled Emma with too many emotions to count, most of which were unresolved, and were the cause of some resentment between herself and the small innocent baby. Emma had been held only once by their parents before being shipped off to another world to grow up alone. And here was this small baby girl, with a head of dark hair just like their mother, who had two loving parents that didn't plan on going anywhere. She had had a whole week of being a child with parents, and Emma who had only had 5 minutes was already feeling a sting of bitterness towards her sweet little sister.

Little Lila squirmed slightly after being placed in her sisters arms and David reached out to stroke her cheek, before depositing an overflowing diaper bag on the kitchen table beside them. "When will Neal and Henry be home?" David enquired softly, having eyes for only his youngest daughter, causing Emma's stomach to churn.

"I don't know, sometime soon. I think Neal wanted to take Henry out for a drive… which I think is insane… the kid is not even 15… doesn't have a permit… it makes me look bad…" she rambled, looking anywhere but her father and missing his supportive gaze.

"Well, however you decide to deal with that is up to you sheriff! I'm off to have a meal with my wife which should be amazing as neither of us will be covered in baby puke."

"What!" Emma's eyes widen. "She pukes?"

"…a lot," David whispers with a cheeky smile on his face before turning serious. "Hey Emma, I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you, of how you and Neal are trying to make your relationship work. I know it was a hard decision on your part as to whether to let him back into your life, but I think you are doing the right thing. He loves you, and I'm so glad you have that. That you have some version of a happy ending. He makes you happy. I can tell." He smiles before leaning over to kiss her forehead.

Emma smiles back at him and murmurs a small, "thanks."

David leans down and kisses little Lila's head then turns around and walks out of the loft only turning for a quick wave before he pulls the door shut behind him.

Looking down at her sleeping sister Emma murmurs, "I guess it's just you and me squirt."

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Lila to wake up and realize that her parents were not present. She had gone from a sleeping angel to a wailing devil in a matter of seconds. Emma had tried everything on her parents list. Singing a song, wrapping her tightly in her baby blanket and rocking her. She knew there had to be something the kid wanted. Holding the baby to her chest with one hand she used her other to pick up the bag David had brought with him and tipped it upside down, letting everything spill across the table until she found what she was looking for. A bottle of expressed milk from Mary Margaret, with a sticky label of instructions stuck to it.

1 - Warm up bottle in a pot of warm water (not boiling Emma!)

2 - Shake well (don't go crazy)

3 - Test on wrist (make sure it's not too hot for her!)

4 - Feed to Lila until she's full (she normally drinks about 100mLs…)

5 - Burp Lila (make sure to have a towel nearby - she's prone to vomiting)

6 - Throw out remaining milk

Snorting at her mother's worried comments Emma hastened to the kitchen to ready the bottle.

She had just started to feed the calming baby when she heard hurried footsteps in the stairwell. Sighing and shaking her head, thinking Mary Margaret was experiencing a bout of separation anxiety from her new baby, Emma went to open the door. However, Henry slammed it open before she could get there, with a look on his face that made Emma anxious the second she saw him.

"Where's your dad?" she enquired as her eyes opened wide in panic. She was answered rapidly by Neal finally making it to the top landing of their building and hurrying inside their loft, his body tense.

"What happened?" Emma whispered, trying to look them in the eye. Her heart racing and her legs trembling. She glanced down at her sister, who unaware of the tension in the room continued to guzzle her milk and walked over to sit at the table.

"I was driving," Henry began making Emma groan.

"Please tell me you didn't hit anyone!" she moaned before turning on Neal, "Please tell me you didn't let him hit anyone… or crash the car"

"No no… nothing like that," he replied. With a sideward glance at Henry, Neal walked forward and pulled a chair out from under the table, to sit directly in front of Emma. "We had just parked, right outside of Granny's, when we heard a scream. Henry being the hero he is ran off to see what was going on. I followed, and Emma, I'm not even sure what to tell you next.

Her eyes wide she murmured, "The truth" as a feeling of dread settled in her stomach.

Neal closed his eyes briefly then pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking at Lila, as she drank her milk innocently in Emma's arms he let out a shuddering breath before returning his gaze to Emma.

"There were some loud noises out the back of Granny's diner. When we got there all we could see was a blur of white, and a hole in the ground. Kind of like a portal. And your parents were holding onto the edge of … the ground I guess. Henry tried to run forward and pull them out-"

"He wouldn't let me help them!" Henry half shouts in indignation from his spot behind his father.

Neal turned around immediately. "It wasn't safe Henry! Your mother and I don't plan on losing you at the hand of another god damn portal. You were being rash!"

"Whatever…" he whispered sullenly, "it might have worked."

Emma watched them bicker as a flash of anger came up through her. "So what you're saying is you just stood and watched as my parents got sucked down some suspicious portal?"

Neal rolled his eyes, "No! Don't go jumping to conclusions. After I pulled Henry back, I noticed that the tree out back of Granny's had fallen in that storm we had last week. We grabbed a long branch and held it out to them. Mary Margaret grabbed hold of it, but she wouldn't let us pull her out until your dad was secure… that was when the portal closed over, taking the branch with it" Neal finished. "We did everything we could Emma…" he muttered.

Nodding slowly, Emma looked down at Lila. Guilt. That's all she felt, Guilt. She had been too consumed by her jealousy and resentment, and had even spent nights awake dreading the birth of her sister. She had been so sure that watching Lila grow up happily with two parents would be the worst thing that had ever happened to her. However, she had been too selfish to realize that inflicting her own horrors on another person, her sister no less would actually be more horrific. Especially for the baby and her parents, who were already consumed by a guilt of their own. Emma felt responsible for this turn of events, as if she had wished it into existence. And who knows, maybe she had.

Henry's voice cuts through Emma's musings. "What are we going to do with Lila?"

"Look after her of course." Neal's voice is so sure, that it pains Emma. Family is the one thing in his life that had always been desired and understood. He made it seem so easy. And although they had similar circumstances as children, Family was the one thing Emma still failed to understand. She obviously knew she had to and wanted to care for her sister, but how could she? After all the hardships on her already, poor baby Lila had to be taken care of by someone who wouldn't even glance sideways at her child when he was born. How the hell was she going to do this?

Neal, noticing Emma's distress, took Lila from her arms and began rocking her. "We can do this" he murmured quietly. Whether to Emma or himself, she didn't know.

"Has she finished her bottle?" he asked Emma softly as he gazed at the baby.

Clearing her throat and checking to see how much the small child had drunk, Emma noticed her head beginning to throb. "Yep" she replied, holding up the almost empty bottle.

"Alright" Neal replies before placing Lila across his chest to burp her. As he pats her back Emma stares in a state of loss and anger. How could her parents do this again? How could they be so stupid to be separated from their baby? She thought they had learnt their lesson with her.

"EUGHH!" Henry groans, before laughing as he watches baby spew drip down Neal's back.

This drew Emma's attention. "Oh yeah… she does that apparently. David warned me before… before… he left" she finished in a small voice.

"oh… well thanks for the warning _dear_" He snipes sarcastically. He holds out the baby to Henry, obviously intending to change out of his ruined clothes.

"Nuh-ah" Henry says stepping away from the baby with a wary eye.

"Please!" Neal whimpers, "Some of its dripping down my neck."

Henry reaches out to take Lila, holding her at arm's length, and quickly walks her over to Emma. "I've …ahh… got some homework to do…" he mutters, and runs away the second Emma's arms have a hold on the baby.

Both boys run in opposite directions, getting as far away from Emma and Lila as possible. "Great." Emma murmurs, looking from the tiny baby, covered in vomit, to the table strewn in baby things. "It's just you and me squirt. Let's get you changed."

* * *

**Thaaaaaaaankyou for reading! – Please let me know what you thought so I know whether to continue this or not… :) **


	2. First week

With the screaming baby in her arms Emma wrenched open a tin of formula with a spoon a scooped some powder into a bottle. Confused, and needing to reread the instructions, Emma almost screamed in frustration. She hadn't slept much since she'd been dumped with Lila days ago.

She'd been hoping her parents would make a speedy return from wherever they were, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. The day after the disappearance Emma had searched their house for any clues, despite Neal and Henry's insistence that they had just been sucked down yet another portal. However Emma didn't think they could be dumb enough to let that happen again.

Her search proved them idiots. She found nothing suspicious and left that evening only with a bag full of baby supplies. Ever since then she had been unsuccessfully trying to juggle the search for her parent's whereabouts with fake motherhood. And she was furious. She had been smart; Emma had maintained a strict contraceptive routine since the lovely little accident called Henry had been born. But still she ended up with a baby to look after.

And Lila was not happy. She knew Emma and Neal weren't her parents. The baby whilst only a week old was not dumb. She did not enjoy the transition from the last reserves of Mary Margaret's milk stores to formula, and she seemed to hate that when she cried it was her sister that picked her up. Emma just didn't know how to deal with Lila, and the constant wailing sure didn't help.

Thankfully Neal and Henry seemed besotted by the crying, puking baby. They always knew what was wrong when she cried, always happy to rock her to sleep when she was upset, but they almost always skirted out of the 'dirty' jobs. It often took a pointed look at Neal, implying there would be bad consequences for him if he didn't help, to get him to change a diaper.

"There you go," Emma murmured to Lila as she finally started to feed the little baby. After Lila tasted the formula, Emma was sure the baby looked right up at her and glared. Emma glared right on back. Despite caring for her sister the past few days, the slight animosity Emma had created between them had not disappeared.

…

It was dark outside, the moon was hanging high in the sky, Neal was snoring beside her, but Emma couldn't sleep. She sat perched on the edge of their bed, staring at the makeshift cot they had made for Lila. On the floor, only 1 meter away was an empty draw from her dresser. They had tipped out all her clothes, lined it with blankets then placed the baby inside to sleep.

Lila had not objected to her new bed, but something about her sleeping in the draw did not sit well with Emma. Especially now that it had been 6 nights. Whilst they had organized the makeshift bassinet, and each day as they put the baby to sleep within it she felt off. It wasn't until she had woken suddenly from an old recurrent nightmare that she had realized why.

"Emma?" she heard Neal croak from behind her. "What are you doing?"

Surprised that Neal had woken up but not wanting him to see her agitated expression, Emma ignored him. When she said nothing she felt his large hand reach out to touch her back in a soothing gesture. "Is Lila-"

"She's fine." Emma interrupted quietly.

With a slight sigh, Neal rubbed his tired face and scooted over towards Emma, and sat next to her. "What's up?" he asked as he grabbed her hand and studied her face. "You know you can tell me anything right?"

Nodding slightly yet hesitating, Emma opened her mouth to tell Neal about her dream.

"When I was in jail, pregnant with Henry, I used to have these dreams. Nightmares mostly. And whilst I knew 100% that I needed to give him up for adoption, and that it was what was best for him, my unconscious mind was a bit more selfish."

As she spoke, Neal sat a bit straighter. Emma barely ever talked about her past, and sometimes he just wanted to know what things were like when he wasn't around. Emma often joked that he had somehow ended up with a masochistic streak. "What would happen in the dreams?" he prompted when he noticed her pause.

"There was a lot of variation. Some nights I would end up on a beach in Tallahassee with you and Henry, others I ended up alone and usually woke up in cold sweats." Emma muttered, her gaze still firmly on her sisters sleeping form. Neal didn't say anything; he squeezed her hand in encouragement and waited for her to continue.

"Though, in general the dreams always began by me being released from jail. I would take Henry to some motel, where I would rent a room and find some menial job to pay the room rent. In the dream, I would always place Henry into a draw, just like this one, so he could sleep. Some nights I found myself trying to hide the fact that I was a mother from various landlords, by pushing Henry in his draw, into the dresser to be hidden. Sometimes he died of suffocation, or sometimes he cried, alerting them to his presence and forcing us to live on the streets. Other times the dream would include my teenage self, needing to leave Henry in the apartment alone whilst I worked. I always came home in those dreams to find the draw and Henry missing, and a summons from Child Protective Services sitting on my bed." Emma shivered, recounting the dreams she hadn't experienced in years, her eyes finally pulling away from her sister to look solemnly at the ground.

"I always swore, after waking up from those dreams that I would never be one of those people who was too selfish to put the life of an innocent child before their own, that there was no way I was going to force Henry to live in a draw and get taken away from me."

"Emma…"

With a big sniff she continued, "Because those nightmares would have come true Neal! It took me years to get my life together! And even then, I was in no way 'parent material'. When Henry dragged me into his life, I held him at arm's length for way too long. And I do the same with my parents, and you, and now I'm supposed to care for a baby? My sister? The person who was supposed to replace me and fulfill all of my parent's missed opportunities? … I just … I don't think I can handle this. On one hand, I want to get her out of that drawer, because no one deserves to be abandoned by their parents, then treated like shit. But on the other hand, I just want to leave her there. Let her feel _my_ pain."

"She's only a baby Emma. She doesn't even know what's going on…"

"Yeah, well, she'll figure it out soon enough. I did." She whispered bitterly, earning a reproachful glare from Neal.

"Okay, that's enough," Neal begun firmly. "Emma, her parent's may not be around right now, but that doesn't mean she's going to grow up like you did. She has us; she has so much loving family around to be there for her. And I know Lila being born wasn't an easy thing for you to accept and that you still haven't, but there is enough loss in this family already without you pushing away your innocent little sister."

Neal's harsh yet true words forced Emma to look back at Lila. Despite how much her jealousy might want to ruin this kid's life, she knew she couldn't let it. If the worst case scenario did occur, and their parent's never returned from wherever they were, then Emma would be the only mother type figure Lila would ever get. And although it would undoubtedly suck being raised by your big sister, all Emma had really wanted as a kid was someone stable to love her. Someone who would have always been there.

Sighing once more, Emma turned to face Neal who hadn't taken his eyes off her for their entire conversation. "It's just been so long since I've even thought about those dreams, about having a baby to look after... And my initial thought was always 'hell no' because the situation I was in, but seeing Lila there in that drawer brought back all those painful memories. And now I'm the girl who couldn't raise her own son, but needs to bring up her little sister because their parents abandoned her."

"Your parent's didn't abandon Lila," Neal began, earning a small glare from Emma. "It was an accident, they fell down some portal thing, and it wasn't like they wanted you to have to-" he was cut off from the look on her face. "Ok, ok, that's not important right now, what is important is that you and I can do this Emma. You're a great mother to Henry-"

"Who is fourteen years not fourteen days old…" Emma interrupted.

"Same difference" Neal replied, earning a skeptical look from her. "All a mother needs to do is be loving and present. Take that from someone with 'mother issues'."

Emma snorted lightly.

"Please, Emma, just tell me you'll try. Lila doesn't deserve to be as screwed up as all of us just yet. Together we can do it. You'll regret it if you don't help her."

"Why are you so desperate for me to love her…?"

"Because I've seen and experienced what can happen when the alternative happens. Besides, it might be nice having a baby around the house."

Emma opened her mouth to reply when a loud wail let up from the draw on the ground. Emma glanced at Neal before standing up and making her way towards Lila. "Yeah. Real nice this loud noise is hey?" she instead replied sarcastically.

…

With a massive yawn that Emma didn't even attempt to hide behind her hand, she pulled on her jacket and hovered by the front door. Neal, in the kitchen pouring himself a third cup of coffee eventually realized she hadn't yet rushed off to work when she cleared her throat deliberately.

"Um… I was thinking," Emma began tentatively, "considering we don't have any idea how long Lila will be with us… maybe you should go over to _their _house today and bring back as much as you can of hers… Lila can't keep sleeping in that draw."

Neal stared at her, carefully analyzing her hesitant behaviour. "Alright," he eventually relented. "But you're going to need to take the baby with you to work then. I can't look after her if I'm going to be lugging cribs and change tables all over the place."

Emma's face tightened, "but I have things I need to do too-"

"Which I'm sure you can still do with Lila being there, I'll have Henry drop by the station and pick her up after school so you can have a few hours of peace."

Huffing slightly, Emma walked over to the baby carrier sitting on the table, where Lila was blowing spit bubbles, and checked that the diaper bag had everything in it before turning to leave. She heard Neal hasten over towards her, and they met at the front door as Emma wrenched it open. He placed his hand calmingly on her arm, "have a good day Emma – and remember she's just a sweet little baby, not someone trying to ruin your life."

Emma rolled her eyes and leant in to place a perfunctionary kiss on Neal's lips. "See you later Neal." is all she said before stepping out into the hallway with Lila and slamming the door slightly.

She'd had plans for the day that didn't involve a baby, and would really be easier without lugging Lila around. She had set up a meeting for the morning with a confused Mr. Gold and Regina; it was about time she got some answers.

…

**Hi everyone, thanks for all the support I received after last chapter! I'm really thankful to those who took some time to review the chapter :) … anyway here is the second installment, and the third is already being written… I hope you all liked this chapter, it had a slightly different tone to the last because there was some stuff I needed to clear out before really getting into it… anyway emma/lila bonding session next chapter – I promise!**


	3. Dysfunctional family

**Just FYI before you read… this story is going to be jumping around a little… this chap takes place about a year after chap 1 and 2. I will be going back to fill in all the details in later chaps.**

Once again, Emma stood in her mother's kitchen at the end of a long day at work, cooking dinner for her extremely dysfunctional family. Neal, with a beer in hand was leaning against the breakfast bar and watching the kids fondly as he complained about his day. Henry was crawling around on the floor, playing a game of 'extreme peek-a-boo' with Lila, whilst Neal watched on in amazement.

"I just- I just don't see how it can be so funny!" He murmurs in bemusement as Henry popped up from his hiding place behind the couch and made a funny face at Lila who was crouching behind a leg of the table in the kitchen. Of course Henry's actions brought upon an adorable peal of laughter from the small girl, who jumped up and ran towards him for a hug.

When she got close to him, Henry kneelt down on one knee and opened his arms wide for her. As Lila wrapped her arms around his neck, Henry closed his around her and squeezed tight, peppering her face with kisses and yelled "I've got you now child! You can never escape meeeeee!"

Snorting lightly Emma turned to watch, "she is only 1 Neal… you know that! -I swear I saw you at her party last week… or was that your evil twin you've never told me about!?" she asked sarcastically as she watched Henry attack Lila with love.

Lila squealed and laughed at first, then squirmed crazily until Henry put her down. The second she escaped from his arms, she ran right towards the kitchen and hid behind Neal's leg. Keeping up the charade, Henry dramatically blew the hair away from his forehead, and got down and all fours, ready to stalk her across the apartment.

"Up, up!" Lila demanded, slapping Neal's legs lightly with her small hands as Henry got closer. Laughing lightly, and sharing yet another amused glance with Emma, Neal held onto her tiny hands and yanked her into the air. Henry came closer, stood up, and acted as he was reaching to grab her. "Up, up!" Lila yelled again, her hands fisting in Neal's hair, her face very serious.

"Ok ok!" Neal acquiesced, lifting her up above his head where Henry's swatting hands couldn't reach. Lila squealed again in delight of having won their little game. Henry rushed over to the table and made to pull a chair over to them, so to gain some height on his father when Emma butted in.

"Ok everybody, fun's over. Time for dinner. Henry put that chair back where it came from or so help me-"

"Alright!" Henry sighed, dragging the chair back over to the dinner table and sinking into it with exhaustion.

Neal, his arms aching slightly, lowered Lila onto the floor and watched as she ran over to Emma.

The second Lila's arms wrapped around her leg, Emma let go of the oven-mitts she was holding and kneelt to the floor to look at Lila with a smile. "Is Miss Lila ready for her mashed carrot and green peas?" she asked sweetly, bopping the little girl lightly on the nose with her finger. When Lila smiled and nodded, Emma scooped her gently into her arms and walked over to the table where a high chair was placed. "Neal do you mind serving up our dinner whilst I get Lila sorted" she asked over her shoulder as she strapped her sister into the chair.

Rolling his eyes, Neal walked into the kitchen and served himself and Henry generous helpings of lasagna. "Here you go buddy," he smiled as he placed a plate down in front of his son before handing Emma the plastic bowl of baby food.

"Thanks," she murmured before placing the bowl and a plastic spoon in front of Lila and helping her eat. However the sound of her own dinner being set down on the table in front of her, and the glorious smell that wafted towards her, made her stop, and hand the spoon over to the semi-capable one year old instead.

"Are you sure you trust her to not fling food at us?" Neal asked of her decision. Most likely remembering the last time they had let Lila be in charge of feeding herself, and the cake they had spent all evening cleaning from the walls.

Eyeing her sister warily and shoving a mouthful of steaming hot lasagna in her own mouth, Emma nodded. "She'll be fine. She's gotta learn somehow."

This made Henry pipe up, "as long as she doesn't-"

His sentence was cut off by the rampaging footsteps out in the stairwell of their building, which was closely followed by aggressive knocking on their door.

"Oh god… what now?" Emma groaned as she got up from the table and made her way to the door.

When she pulled it open, she received the shock of her lifetime. Her stomach dropped. Behind it, looking dirty and a little worse for wear were David and Mary Margaret. Her parent's. Lila's parents. They'd finally returned home.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret cried, pulling her immediately into a close hug which David quickly joined, enclosing them in his warmth. "Oh we've missed you so much! Where is she? Where's our baby? Where's Lila? We've missed you both so much." She cried, as she released Emma and started looking around the room.

Neal and Henry were still sitting at the table, mouths wide open in shock when Lila, threw handfuls of orange food at the both of them.

Her eyes widening in horror, Emma rushed towards Lila out of instinct and quickly pulled the bowl away from her before she could make any more mess. "Lila, No! We've talked about this. No throwing food. Ok?" she told her sister who had a mischievous smile on her face and merely cocked her head to look at Emma, as she found a cloth to wipe her sister's hands clean on.

"It's so good to see you guys" Emma heard Henry say enthusiastically, breaking her out of her 'grimy-toddler' induced bubble.

She turned to watch as her parent's, still standing just inside the doorway, gazed at Lila in wonder as they warmly hugged Henry.

Turning slightly to look at Neal, who was still sitting at the table, his eyes raised in surprise, Emma felt panic settle within her. Feeling her gaze on him, Neal turned to look at her and she could see it in his eyes as well. They were back. Her parents were back. This meant _they _could continue taking care of Lila, and Emma, Henry and Neal could return to living life as if it all had never happened. But it had. And their little girl, NO, her sister, was going to have to leave them.

Sighing lightly, but prepared to do the right thing, Neal stood up and smiled widely. "I'm so glad you guys made it back safely. This family's not the same without you two." He said genuinely. Neal walked around the table, and unclipped Lila from her high chair and pulled her up into his arms. Oblivious to the tension in the room, and full of energy, Lila wrapped her tiny arms around Neal's neck, as he in turn wrapped his free arm around Emma and walked them over to their parents. He could feel how stiff Emma was, and her face was displaying her tension. But he knew from the look on Snow and David's face that they needed to wrap their arms around Lila, and they needed that proof that she was very much real.

When he had first met Henry, it had been surreal. Sure, he hadn't known about his child during their separation, but the look on his in-laws face's reminded him of himself at that time. So, as they all reached each other in the middle of the loft, he smiled tightly and handed Lila to Snow, who started to cry and cuddle her little girl into her chest.

"Oh she's gotten so big! We've missed so much. Oh god here she is David, our little girl." Snows monologue tapered off into little desperate sobs as Lila began to squirm with unease. David, who had been standing next to Mary Margaret, staring at their baby in awe, finally moved closer to them, and stroked Lila's head softly before placing a tender kiss on her cheek.

Lila did not like this one bit. She was normally a bit of a social butterfly, playing with the dwarfs, Ruby and even Mr. Gold when he popped in for a visit. But the small child was obviously confused and overwhelmed by the sudden outpour of affection from 2 random strangers. Her face scrunched up, her eyes filled with tears, and she yelled, "MMA!"

Snow's eyes widened with shock. "did she just say MA?... oh she still knows me David, she still knows me." she whispered in delight. "shh baby it's alright," she soothed as Lila began squirming in her arms, and reaching out towards Emma.

It was Neal that piped in, as he stepped forward and gently pulled the hysterical baby from Mary Margaret's arms, and handed her towards Emma. Lila stopped sobbing the instant Emma's arms closed around her, and Mary Margaret's face fell slightly. "Actually, Lila calls Emma 'mma' … she can't quite get the E sound out." He stated softly, before continuing to fill the awkward silence that followed. "She calls me 'Nil' and Henry is 'RiRi'. But Hey – what else can you expect from a one year old!... I'd say she's doing pretty well." He ended with and affectionate gaze towards Lila, who had rested her head on Emma's shoulder shyly.

This was the last straw for Mary Margaret who had been crying since she laid eyes upon Lila. She managed to blubber, "we-we-missed her birthday?" before turning towards David and collapsing into his arms, her body wracked with sobs.

David made eye contact with Emma, his eyes wide and sad. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "We just didn't know what to expect. We weren't quite sure how much time we had been gone. We thought a few months maybe… but a year! It's just a bit of a shock."

Nodding, Emma looked back at her father warily and tried to smile. "How about you guys go have a shower, get dressed, calm down, and then we can all try and have this talk with clearer minds. It's almost time for Lila to go to bed anyway."

Nodding, David pulled Mary Margaret upright, and dragged her into the bathroom, and shut the door. Moments later, Emma could hear the sound of the shower running.

She held Lila close to her body, and watched Neal send Henry upstairs to find her favourite toy. Once the boy had disappeared, she turned to face Neal, a feeling of desperation rising in her stomach, and tears spilling down her face. "What are we going to do?"

He smiled sadly at her and stroked her hair before pulling her into a hug, Lila trapped tightly between them. "The right thing." He murmured. "It's gonna suck. It's gonna hurt like hell, but we have to do it. She is their child, no matter what has happened. Are you really going to deny them the chance to raise Lila? It's what's best. For everyone."

Nodding slightly and stepping back from Neal, Emma pressed Lila, getting sleepier by the minute, closer to her chest, and carried her into her room. Neal right behind her watched as she changed Lila into her pajama's and tucked her into her crib for what would be the last night spent living in the loft with them.

In the bathroom, the water was running, steam was curling and Mary Margaret was still sobbing as David stroked her hair soothingly. "We did it again David. We missed her first step, first word, first smile… we shouldn't be allowed to have children. We're cursed!"

**OKAAAAY! So…. How great was the charming family feels and swanfire in that last episode? (3x06 – Ariel) Even tho I'm in the middle of exams and should have been making cue cards for tomorrows exam – I had to write this. Hope you liked it. **


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